News and commentary on Caribbean culture, literature, and the arts

March 12, 2019March 12, 2019

Lecture—“The Impact of the Grenada Revolution on the Region: The St. Lucia Experience”

As keynote speaker at the 4th Annual March 13th Lecture of the Grenada Revolution Celebrations Committee, former Prime Minister of St. Lucia Dr. Kenny Anthony will present “The Impact of the Grenada Revolution on the Region: The St. Lucia Experience.” The Committee will host a variety of related activities during March 12-15, including a digital exhibition on the Grenada Revolution at Norton Hall, Church Street, St George’s, Grenada. Linda Straker writes, “Revolution is part of Grenada’s history and should be commemorated in less ad-hoc manner.” Straker (Now Grenada) reports:

Speaking on the topic “The Impact of the Grenada Revolution on the Region: The St Lucia Experience,” Dr Kenny Anthony, former Prime Minister of St Lucia will be the keynote speaker at the 4th Annual March 13th Lecture organised by the Grenada Revolution Celebrations Committee.

The lecture is part of activities organised by the Committee to commemorate the landmark 40th Anniversary of the advent of the historic March 13th, 1979 Revolution – the very first Revolution in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Scheduled for 12 March 2019 at the Grenada Trade Centre at 6:30 pm, it will be the second in a week centred around 13 March, with activities that began last Saturday, 9 March with a concert featuring veteran calypsonians from Grenada and Trinidad.

From 13-15 March, the Committee will host a digital exhibition on the Grenada Revolution at Norton Hall, Church Street, St George’s. The exhibition will feature images of activities that happened during the period of the revolutionary years of March 1979 to October 1983, music of the revolution period, as well as panel discussions and a book launch, all open to the public.

The schedule of activities to culminate the 40th anniversary of the Revolution will be an academic conference from 27-29 May under the theme: “The Grenada Revolution 40 Years After: Commemoration, Celebration and Critique.” The conference will coincide with African Liberation Day (27 May) and the 75th anniversary of the birth of former Prime Minister Maurice Bishop (29 May).

The Grenada Revolution Celebrations Committee comprises 6 co-chairpersons who were active youths during the period of the revolution. They are Ruggles Ferguson, Attorney-at-Law and Interim President of the Grenada Revolution Memorial Foundation (GREMFO); Glen Noel, former general secretary of the National Democratic Congress; Dr Malachi Dottin, a Cuban trained Plant Biotechnologist and Chairperson of the North West Development Authority; Brian Lindsay, a leading member of the now-defunct Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement (MBPM); Dr Wendy Grenade a senior lecturer in Political Science at University of West Indies, Cave Hill Campus; and Dr Winston Thomas, a Cuban trained medical doctor and President of the Grenada-Venezuelan Friendship society. Each co-chairperson heads a specific area of the work being undertaken for the 40th Anniversary.

At a recent news conference, Ferguson said that the Revolution is a factual part of Grenada’s history and it should be commemorated in a less ad-hoc manner.

“We have to begin somewhere and not just institutional ad-hoc activities,” said Ferguson who is the interim chairman of the committee. Over the years, several ad-hoc committees have organised activities in observance of 13 March – the day of the Grenada Revolution.